Replacing hard drive

Hello,

I need to replace an ageing 180 gig (boot) drive, and I found a great
deal on a 160 gig drive. If I only using 100 gigs of the 180, can I
just transfer the what's on 180 to the 160 without any problems? I'm
assuming that I will use whatever software comes with the drive to do
the transfer. Thanks!

Yes, will work; but with prices so low why not get something a lot bigger?

"m32" <Michael.Warthan@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:fd2cc810-54f0-44f0-a271-a0148e1972aa@t54g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> Hello,
>
> I need to replace an ageing 180 gig (boot) drive, and I found a great
> deal on a 160 gig drive. If I only using 100 gigs of the 180, can I
> just transfer the what's on 180 to the 160 without any problems? I'm
> assuming that I will use whatever software comes with the drive to do
> the transfer. Thanks!

Yes you can, but keep in mind that if the drive you buy is an 'OEM' version
you get the hard drive and nothing else.
So you will need to download the software from the drive manufacture's web
site.

If you purchase a 'Retail' version you get the software CD, cables and
install sheet.

JS


"m32" <Michael.Warthan@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:fd2cc810-54f0-44f0-a271-a0148e1972aa@t54g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> Hello,
>
> I need to replace an ageing 180 gig (boot) drive, and I found a great
> deal on a 160 gig drive. If I only using 100 gigs of the 180, can I
> just transfer the what's on 180 to the 160 without any problems? I'm
> assuming that I will use whatever software comes with the drive to do
> the transfer. Thanks!

m32 wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I need to replace an ageing 180 gig (boot) drive, and I found a great
> deal on a 160 gig drive. If I only using 100 gigs of the 180, can I
> just transfer the what's on 180 to the 160 without any problems? I'm
> assuming that I will use whatever software comes with the drive to do
> the transfer. Thanks!

Even if you get an OEM version, you can get a free trial copy of Acronis
True Image Home. It will clone a drive perfectly. As a matter of
fact I think the Seagate wizard is a trimmed down version the Seagate
gives out on its website just so you can copy data on a newly purchased
drive.

Hello! You guys are right except that either you buy it in retail or OEM, the
drive does not come with cloning or imaging software. Retail - it only comes
with the utility disc for formatting or enabling big drive space, etc. which
if you buy OEM - you can freely download from the vendor the exact utility
program instead of disc as the retail provide.

Allen wrote:
> Hello! You guys are right except that either you buy it in retail or OEM, the
> drive does not come with cloning or imaging software. Retail - it only comes
> with the utility disc for formatting or enabling big drive space, etc. which
> if you buy OEM - you can freely download from the vendor the exact utility
> program instead of disc as the retail provide.

I've never looked at the CD that comes with those retail drives, as a
matter of fact, they go in the round file. And the last drive I bought
was OEM cause I didn't need anything other than the drive and 10$ diff,
is a lot for a cable, cd and screws, all unwanted.

Thanks for the clarification.

On Jul 3, 5:23 pm, Big_Al <Bi...@md.com> wrote:
> m32 wrote:
> > Hello,
>
> > I need to replace an ageing 180 gig (boot) drive, and I found a great
> > deal on a 160 gig drive. If I only using 100 gigs of the 180, can I
> > just transfer the what's on 180 to the 160 without any problems? I'm
> > assuming that I will use whatever software comes with the drive to do
> > the transfer. Thanks!
>
> Even if you get an OEM version, you can get a free trial copy of Acronis
> True Image Home. It will clone a drive perfectly. As a matter of
> fact I think the Seagate wizard is a trimmed down version the Seagate
> gives out on its website just so you can copy data on a newly purchased
> drive.

I bought a new 500 gig Seagate SATA drive to replace my aging 200 gig
drive. I used the DiscWizard to clone the drive (I thought). The
original drive had two partitions, one containing the HP recovery
stuff. I unplugged the old drive after the process, and the computer
would not boot. I plugged it back in to attempt a repair of some kind,
and it booted fine. In disk Management, it shows G: (the new drive) as
healthy system, and the C: drive (the old one) as pagefile. I decided
to just try the whole operation over again, and the Discwizard won't
let me reclone to the new drive, the option is greyed out. The
original plan was to replace the old drive and use it as storage.
Where did I go wrong? How can I fix this? Thanks ahead of time.

m32 wrote:
> On Jul 3, 5:23 pm, Big_Al <Bi...@md.com> wrote:
>> m32 wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>> I need to replace an ageing 180 gig (boot) drive, and I found a great
>>> deal on a 160 gig drive. If I only using 100 gigs of the 180, can I
>>> just transfer the what's on 180 to the 160 without any problems? I'm
>>> assuming that I will use whatever software comes with the drive to do
>>> the transfer. Thanks!
>> Even if you get an OEM version, you can get a free trial copy of Acronis
>> True Image Home. It will clone a drive perfectly. As a matter of
>> fact I think the Seagate wizard is a trimmed down version the Seagate
>> gives out on its website just so you can copy data on a newly purchased
>> drive.
>
> I bought a new 500 gig Seagate SATA drive to replace my aging 200 gig
> drive. I used the DiscWizard to clone the drive (I thought). The
> original drive had two partitions, one containing the HP recovery
> stuff. I unplugged the old drive after the process, and the computer
> would not boot. I plugged it back in to attempt a repair of some kind,
> and it booted fine. In disk Management, it shows G: (the new drive) as
> healthy system, and the C: drive (the old one) as pagefile. I decided
> to just try the whole operation over again, and the Discwizard won't
> let me reclone to the new drive, the option is greyed out. The
> original plan was to replace the old drive and use it as storage.
> Where did I go wrong? How can I fix this? Thanks ahead of time.

When you finished the clone, you then switched drives right? Changing
master/slave jumpers and cables and all? The 500Gig (even though it
might have been G: or something in your XP system) it should be put into
the PC as if it were C:. When you boot the clone operation should
finish & rename it to C: on the way up and it should work.

If you just removed the old 200gig and did nothing then no wonder.

>>> m32 wrote:
>>>> Hello,
>>>> I need to replace an ageing 180 gig (boot) drive, and I found a great
>>>> deal on a 160 gig drive. If I only using 100 gigs of the 180, can I
>>>> just transfer the what's on 180 to the 160 without any problems? I'm
>>>> assuming that I will use whatever software comes with the drive to do
>>>> the transfer. Thanks!
>>
>> I bought a new 500 gig Seagate SATA drive to replace my aging 200 gig
>> drive. I used the DiscWizard to clone the drive (I thought). The
>> original drive had two partitions, one containing the HP recovery
>> stuff. I unplugged the old drive after the process, and the computer
>> would not boot. I plugged it back in to attempt a repair of some kind,
>> and it booted fine. In disk Management, it shows G: (the new drive) as
>> healthy system, and the C: drive (the old one) as pagefile. I decided
>> to just try the whole operation over again, and the Discwizard won't
>> let me reclone to the new drive, the option is greyed out. The
>> original plan was to replace the old drive and use it as storage.
>> Where did I go wrong? How can I fix this? Thanks ahead of time.
>

"Big_Al" <BigAl@md.com> wrote in message
news:%23EOCRCT4IHA.2332@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> When you finished the clone, you then switched drives right? Changing
> master/slave jumpers and cables and all? The 500Gig (even though it
> might have been G: or something in your XP system) it should be put into
> the PC as if it were C:. When you boot the clone operation should finish
> & rename it to C: on the way up and it should work.
>
> If you just removed the old 200gig and did nothing then no wonder.


"Big Al":
Note the OP indicates his new 500 GB HDD is a SATA HDD. Presumably he's
connected that disk to an appropriate SATA connector on his motherboard.
He's indicated he disconnected (I assume that's what he means by
"unplugged") the old 180 GB HDD following the disk-cloning operation. So if
the disk-cloning operation was successful (obviously it wasn't), the system
should boot to the new SATA HDD. It would be wise, of course, to check the
BIOS to ensure the boot priority order does indicate a first boot to the new
500 GB HDD following a disk-cloning operation. In most instances that will
automatically occur as long as no other HDD is connected, but sometimes it's
necessary for a user to manually change the appropriate setting because the
system will balk upon bootup.

Michael:
It would seem something went awry during the Seagate DiscWizard disk-cloning
operation since you can't boot directly to your 500 GB SATA HDD with the old
180 GB HDD. That's right, isn't it?

So can we assume that if at this point you connect your old 180 GB HDD, with
the 500 GB HDD disconnected, the system will properly boot & function. (And
you've ensured the BIOS boot priority order indicates a first boot to that
180 GB HDD, right?) And that 180 GB HDD will have a drive assignment letter
of C:. That's right, isn't it?

If all the above are correct assumptions why don't you take "Big Al's"
previous advice and download/install a trial version of the Acronis True
Image program (http://www.acronis.com) to perform the disk cloning
operation? And do remember, as you previously did, that following the
disk-cloning operation you disconnect the old HDD *before* booting to the
new HDD. And that the boot priority order indicates a first boot to the 500
GB HDD.

Who knows? You might even want to purchase a copy of the Acronis program and
use it as a comprehensive backup program now that you have two hard drives.
We prefer the Casper disk-cloning program (http://www.fssdev.com) but the
Acronis program should suit you admirably.
Anna

m32 wrote:
> On Jul 3, 5:23 pm, Big_Al <Bi...@md.com> wrote:
>> m32 wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>> I need to replace an ageing 180 gig (boot) drive, and I found a great
>>> deal on a 160 gig drive. If I only using 100 gigs of the 180, can I
>>> just transfer the what's on 180 to the 160 without any problems? I'm
>>> assuming that I will use whatever software comes with the drive to do
>>> the transfer. Thanks!
>> Even if you get an OEM version, you can get a free trial copy of Acronis
>> True Image Home. It will clone a drive perfectly. As a matter of
>> fact I think the Seagate wizard is a trimmed down version the Seagate
>> gives out on its website just so you can copy data on a newly purchased
>> drive.
>
> I bought a new 500 gig Seagate SATA drive to replace my aging 200 gig
> drive. I used the DiscWizard to clone the drive (I thought). The
> original drive had two partitions, one containing the HP recovery
> stuff. I unplugged the old drive after the process, and the computer
> would not boot. I plugged it back in to attempt a repair of some kind,
> and it booted fine. In disk Management, it shows G: (the new drive) as
> healthy system, and the C: drive (the old one) as pagefile. I decided
> to just try the whole operation over again, and the Discwizard won't
> let me reclone to the new drive, the option is greyed out. The
> original plan was to replace the old drive and use it as storage.
> Where did I go wrong? How can I fix this? Thanks ahead of time.

When you say it won't boot with the new drive do you mean it will not
boot Windows or not start at all? The last time I cloned a system
drive, using Ghost, I had to start the system in Safe Mode and then
reboot. After that the drive worked perfectly.